What to look for

This month at your local growers’ market, look for a variety of greens such as:

ARUGULA: With its peppery flavor, arugula is great for spicing up your salad. Its leaves are dark green, small and feathery, but it ranks near the bottom of greens for nutrition. Try mixing arugula with more nutrient-dense options to pump up the flavor and the antioxidant power of your salad. The peppery flavor pairs well with sweet additions like sliced strawberries or watermelon, and with assertive flavors like blue or feta cheese.

BEET AND TURNIP GREENS: Both beet and turnip greens are extremely healthy and often tossed out once their bulbous roots have been trimmed off. When choosing beet greens that are attached to the roots, choose smaller roots over larger, tougher ones. These greens should look crisp and have a bright or deep green color. June is an excellent time to find young, tender beets and turnips.

BUTTER LETTUCE: Including both Bibb and Boston varieties, butter lettuce has a soft, buttery texture and a slightly sweet flavor. It has a tightly folded head of leaves that are bright green on the outside, and is often sold with the roots attached to preserve freshness. Generally sweet with soft leaves, butter lettuce is great addition to any salad.

CHARD: Swiss chard is a relative of the beet family, and it is loaded with vitamins. You can recognize it by the large leaves with red, yellow, orange or white veins. Some people who don’t like kale feel more at home with the milder flavor of chard. Remove the thick middle vein before chopping the chard into salad, or cooking it with a quick boil method.

KALE: Don’t let kale’s trendy status scare you away. These leafy greens are a powerhouse of nutrients. Some popular varieties are: curly kale (leaves are green or purple and very curly); lacian to kale, also called “dinosaur kale” (dark green with ribbed or wrinkled looking leaves); red Russian kale (flat, fringed leaves that are reddish-purple and resemble big oak leaves), and baby Russian kale (a smaller leafed version). The lacian to and red Russian kale are sweeter than curly kale, but you will want to cut out the middle stems as they are fibrous. If you’re not yet a fan of raw kale, try massaging it with a bit of lemon juice and kosher salt to soften it up. You may find that cutting raw kale into smaller pieces makes it taste better, so try stacking and rolling the leaves, and slicing strips perpendicular to the roll “chiffonade” style.

LEAF LETTUCE: Red or green, this lettuce is a good base for any mix as it has a mild flavor, making it a good choice for getting vitamins into the diet of children and picky eaters. Like most salad greens, leaf lettuce does not contain large amounts of fiber so you can increase the fill-factor by adding high-fiber veggies such as cauliflower, cabbage, peppers, or celery to your salad.

SPINACH: Spinach is mild flavored, but its dark, vibrant color tell you that it is packed with vitamins and fiber. Spinach also contains more folic acid than most salad greens, which helps convert the food you eat into energy and produces healthy red blood cells. Try pairing spinach with strawberries, balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of feta cheese for a delicious warm-weather salad.

QUELITES: This wild spinach grows along the river and acequias, and its dark green leaves are smaller than spinach and chard. Quelites are often found at growers’ markets in the north, and sometimes in Albuquerque. You can store and prepare qualities exactly as you would spinach. Try cooking with local onions and garlic, or try them with the creamy red chile dressing.

MIZUNA: You’ll know mizuna by its leafy, feathery look and medium dark green color. Associated with the mustard family, it is often found in mesclun salad mixes. Its young leaves (smaller) taste best when used raw, while the older leaves (larger and firmer) should be lightly cooked. Mizuna is a cold tolerant plant making it popular with farmers and gardeners in cooler regions such as the east mountains and northern New Mexico. There are a number of varieties but usually this green is just labeled as “mizuna” at markets.